Snow (Malfi novel)
| Author | Ronald Malfi |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Horror novel |
| Publisher | Leisure Books |
Publication date | March 2010 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 311 |
| ISBN | 978-0-8439-6355-7 (first paperback edition) |
| Preceded by | Shamrock Alley |
| Followed by | The Ascent |
Snow is a horror novel written by Ronald Malfi. It was published in 2010 by Leisure Books, with a limited edition hardcover published by Altar 13, which contained additional material not in the original novel.[1]
Synopsis
The novel, which is broken up into two sections, "The Storm" and "Surviving," follows a group of strangers who become stranded at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Christmas Eve when a snow storm blows in. The group, led by Todd Curry, rents an SUV and attempts to drive to their destinations in Iowa, but their plans are changed when they nearly run over a man wandering through the snow. The SUV is wrecked so the travelers walk to Woodson, the nearest town. they learn that the town is overrun by phantoms that are made of snow, or a snow-like substance, and these phantoms have the ability to enter human beings and turn them into cannibalistic zombies. The travelers fend off the creatures and make their way through the town in search of any working vehicles or telephones, as the creatures seem to have rendered all mechanical devices useless. Eventually, Todd and another traveler, Kate Jansen, find survivors in the basement of the town's police station. It is there they learn that mechanical devices that had not been in the town when the attack started still function properly, so Todd and some others venture back out into the streets to locate Todd's laptop computer, which he had carried with him. Once they find it and return to the police station, they are able to rig up the computer to fiber optics cables and the internet and send for help. When help arrives in the form of the National Guard, the creatures have retreated into a swirling hole in the sky and disappear. Todd is then shot but not killed by one of the other survivors, a woman named Molly, who blames Todd for the death of her boyfriend. As Todd recovers in the hospital, he is visited and questioned by two federal agents. It is then that he learns the events in Woodson had not been isolated, and that there were many towns throughout North America that had suffered a similar fate.
Reception
The book received moderate to favorable reviews,[2][3] with one reviewer suggesting, "I highly recommend bumping this title to the top of your to-read list"[4] while HorrorNews praised the book's "wonderful characters" and "atmospheric prose."[5]